The Buck Stops Here: Blazer Bucks, Santa Bucks Help North Lake College Students in Need

For immediate release — Dec. 1, 2011

(DALLAS) — When North Lake College students find their budgets can’t make ends meet, they don’t always go to a local discount store. They know their Blazer Bucks (and, on Nov. 30, their Santa Bucks) make a difference in their lives; the buck stops there, at North Lake College, where they can buy food, gently worn clothing and toys, or necessities they might not otherwise be able to afford.

Instead of doing without, they can take their Blazer Bucks to the new, permanent Blazer Student Store where they can feed and clothe themselves and their families, provide toys for their children and even volunteer to work in the store to help pay their way. Most items in the store cost one Blazer Buck, and everything is donated by the college’s faculty, staff or students — or sometimes brought in by students to trade for other items. It’s a thrift store that uses Blazer Bucks for currency.

And the concept came from students themselves 10 years ago, when journalism majors for the campus newspaper, the North Lake News-Register, tried to think of ways to help students make it through the holidays.

“In fall 2002, the News-Register staff and Journalism Club members began to hear stories of hardships among students, the result of a post-9/11 economy,” recalled Kathleen Stockmier, student publications manager at the college. “The rising unemployment rate triggered an increase in college enrollment, and many at North Lake needed help. Christmas was approaching, and it was going to be a bleak holiday season for many.

“So the writers and editors brainstormed and came up with an idea: send out a campuswide email; ask for donations of food, clothing, housewares and miscellaneous items; and give it all away free to students by using a play-money system known as Santa Bucks,” Stockmier added.

And that’s how Santa Bucks were born. Generous donations came in from the North Lake College family, and students who signed up on the day of the event received $20 in Santa Bucks to purchase what they needed. Nine years later, the Santa Bucks project evolved into the Blazer Student Store, which offers help to students year-round. (Canned foods and nonperishable items now are called the Blazer Food Bank supply.)

The sustainable store, run by students for students, receives money from a fund set up by the News-Register. Portions of the campus newspaper’s advertising revenue are deposited into the store’s account on a regular basis — money that already has paid for shelving, printing and miscellaneous supplies to get the new facility off the ground.

photo of students signing up for Santa Bucks program

Students obtain their Blazer Bucks several ways: by trading items from home for bucks, by earning them in the classroom, by winning them at campus events or by purchasing them in the cashier’s office on campus. Students who are experiencing a hardship also are given Blazer Bucks for Blazer food vouchers free of charge — no questions asked.

This year, on Nov. 30, students used their Santa Bucks (the holiday version of Blazer Bucks) to buy Christmas gifts and items they need to get through the holidays. Students who presented their IDs and signed in at the cashier’s office received $30 in “currency” to spend in the store. That day, their Santa Bucks bought three food items for $1 (usually one item for $1). More than 200 students stopped by to get their Santa Bucks and shop in the store, in addition to service-learning students who worked on setup, signing in shoppers, bagging goodies, serving as cashiers and helping students take their purchases to their cars.

Melissa Firestone, a nursing major at the college, wrote a letter to the editor of the student newspaper about the Blazer Student Store. “I recently decided to get my associate degree in nursing, so this fall I came back to college. I had to tighten the reins on my budget so I could make this happen. (People in) the Blazer Store told me all about this great resource offered to North Lake students. I found it a blessing since I am not able to go out and spend like I used to.

“They told me I could bring in my gently worn clothing and exchange items for something in the store,” Firestone added. “The first time, with my budget counselor in mind, I spent the bucks on grocery items. What a deal! ... Thank you to the people who run the student store.” She has volunteered to work in the store and also won a drawing for a gift card to use in the bookstore.

NLC student Jessenia Gutierrez has used Blazer Bucks in the past to buy a gift or to purchase jewelry, which she likes, and she also bought this year’s Christmas gifts there, too. “The Blazer Store is important because sometimes I’m low on cash, and if I need a gift, I can just trade in an item instead of going shopping,” she said. “The Blazer Store has helped me learn not to be such a wasteful person. I know I can trade in items instead of throwing them away. I believe it will help during the holidays — I actually already have some small gifts for my family, so I’m set for Christmas!”

The Blazer Ambassadors, a campus club whose mission is to increase participation in student life activities, are in charge of ensuring that the store’s workers are on time, and they fill in for those who can’t make their shifts. Service-learning students work those shifts and acquire community service hours for volunteering. Virginia Jones, director of student life, oversees the Blazer Ambassadors, whose president is Nkonyezi Nanyamka. English faculty member Susan Villalobos is the service-learning coordinator, who establishes the weekly work schedule for her service-learning students.

Stockmier is proud of the effort started by journalism students that now has become a permanent, sustainable program on campus that helps students. “This year, when the one-day Santa Bucks event shuts down, we won’t have to say: ‘It’s a shame the students can’t be helped year-round.’ Now, the Blazer Student Store is doing that every day, with no end in sight.”

For more information about the Blazer Bucks store, contact Stockmier at (972) 273-3498.

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Press contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819; ahatch@dcccd.edu